Rumesh Ratnayake reveals Angelo Mathews unlikely to bowl in Tests against India

Angelo Mathews’ long-awaited injury return to the Sri Lankan team would surely have been a huge boost for the struggling island country, but Sri Lanka bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake has revealed that the team isn’t taking the all-rounder as a bowler in the upcoming Test series against India.

Sri Lanka has used as many as fourteen bowlers in the warm-up match against Board President's XI, limiting Mathews to bowl just five overs. The all-rounder has been suffering from a string of injuries over the past 12 months and the Sri Lanka board are not willing to risk his workload. 

“Angelo comes in as a batsman," said Rumesh Ratnayake, “He has not bowled in a Test match for a while. I don't think he will bowl here. We consider him more as a white-ball bowler and will look to bowl him in the ODIs only.”

Even in the last series when India visited Sri Lanka, the all-rounder was kept away from bowling in the Tests only allowing him to bowl a few overs in the ODIs. Sri Lanka are seemingly taking the same route here and with Mathews not available to bowl, the side will have to look at good options in Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Roshan Silva to fill that role.